I Can't Go Back
by Rudolfs0807
Summary: This story is about What would happen if the most important person in Aang's life was taken from him in his moment of victory. please review! criticism is welcome! Ther are now going to be 3 other chapters depicting the story from Aang's POV.
1. The End

**Author Note: This is my very first fan fic so please read and review. Constructive criticism is appreciated. **

I Can't Go Back…

Chapter 1: The End

_Damn, these guys are everywhere!_ thought Sokka, leading his squad towards yet another group of Fire Nation foot soldiers.

It had been two hours since the start of the battle that they hoped would finally defeat the Fire Nation, and he was feeling the strain.

_Well_, he thought, _At least the earth benders are keeping all the fire benders occupied so us regular warriors don't have to deal with them. Especially since the comet is passing by today… _

With a yell one of the Fire Nation warriors ran at him with a spear, "Here we go again…" Sokka commented to his squad, as the soldier neared him he swung his meteorite sword, taking out the spear and then the soldier. Sokka hated killing but knew it had to be done so the world could return to its natural balance.

Team Avatar, minus Aang who had gone to fight the Fire Lord, had started the battle fighting together but eventually became separated. When Sokka had realized he was alone he had joined a squad of Water Tribe warriors and used his tactical expertise to do a whole lot of damage to the enemy ranks. He had only seen signs that the Katara and Toph had been fighting nearby: like a few ice spikes imbedded in a soldier, or a soldier who was holding a sword that was tied in a knot courtesy of Toph's metal bending; other than that he hadn't seen any sign of them for a while and he was getting worried.

Just as he was starting to panic, he spied Katara surrounded by a ring of Fire Nation soldiers. He saw that she was doing alright on her own but ordered his squad towards the ring; even before they got near her, she had killed four of the soldiers and was working on the others. Sokka had his squad form a "V" shape with him at the head and they smashed through one side of the ring and joined Katara in the center.

As they fought off yet another wave of reinforcements Sokka asked "Have you seen Toph?"

"I think she went to join the other earth benders in holding off the fire benders" Katara replied. "You seen Zuko around?"

"No, but I wouldn't worry too much about him, he can take care of himself; besides he kind of blends in with the enemy so he should be safe." Said Sokka.

"Yeah you're right", she said taking out three more soldiers with a single ice spike

"Man", commented one of Sokka's squad, "there's no end to these guys! Remind me why we're doing this again."

"We're doing this so when Aang takes out the Fire Lord, we we'll be in the perfect position to occupy the capital; and so that Aang doesn't have to fight a whole bunch of soldiers before getting to the Fire Lord!" Sokka said. The soldier gave a noncommittal grunt as he blocked an opponent's sword and didn't say anymore.

"Speaking of," said Katara worriedly, "I hope Aang is doing ok…"

"Don't worry about your boyfriend Katara; he's trained months for this day" joked Sokka reassuringly.

"He's not my boyfr-, oh never mind!" said Katara as she impaled a soldier on an ice spike and then threw him at a group of soldiers rushing them.

After quite a while their little group had quite a pile bodies surrounding them; but there was no rest for them as the next wave of troops rushed them. The fatigue was starting to show and two members of their group were felled by the enemy but they were able to take out that entire wave too. "They've stopped coming…" commented Sokka suspiciously.

"No they're just surrounding us again" said one of the older combat veterans in the group. Sure enough, the man was right, as the smoke cleared a little and they saw an even bigger ring of Fire Nation troops surrounding them. Sokka also note that there were Fire Benders in the mix of regular troops.

"Crap!" shouted Katara, cursing their bad luck, "they've got fire benders! Must have held some in reserve!"

"I expected that they wouldn't use all their fire benders at once," Sokka said scratching his chin, "but why aren't they attacking?" All of the sudden a white hot bolt of lightning struck one of the Water Tribesmen, killing him instantly; he fell to the ground, dead, as a figure dropped right in front of Sokka and Katara. "Azula…" Said Katara with venom in her voice.

"What's this" asked Azula disbelievingly, "a bunch of _peasants _took out this many soldiers? Form the recon reports I was getting I was expecting a squad of elite Earth kingdom commandos…"

"Well these 'Peasants' are about to kick your ass!" yelled Sokka as he charged at her. But Azula just knocked him down with a blast of blue fire; as she was about to finish him off wit a bolt of lightning, Katara threw a water shield in front of him and shouted "Take the rest of the group and get back! The sadistic bitch is mine…"

Sokka and his group backed off to a respectful distance and turned to watch. as the fight started it wasn't clear who would have the upper hand; but it soon became apparent that Katara was tiring quickly and Azula was still fresh from sitting the battle out in the command tent. Unfortunately Sokka wasn't able to see a lot of the rest of the fight because at that moment the Fire Nation soldiers snapped out of it and decided to attack. He was able to catch occasional glimpses of the two benders between skirmishes: Katara throwing a rain of icicles at Azula, Azula throwing entire storms of lightning at Katara. After a while though, they were lost to his view because of the sea of soldiers surrounding them.

Luckily reinforcements had arrived to aid Sokka's group and the fight was about even. Suddenly Sokka heard an earsplitting crackling sound followed by a piercing scream of agony; he finished off the swordsman he was dueling and whipped around to see what had happened. What he saw nearly stopped his heart out of utter shock: Katara was sprawled on the ground with a large, smoking hole in her chest; Azula was standing over her laughing manically.

"I should have thought of this ages ago," laughed Azula, "what better way to cripple the Avatar than to kill his girlfriend?" Sokka just stared, not quite believing what had happened "I should probably kill you too" she said aiming a bolt of lightning at Sokka "just to make it extra painful to the Avatar". But before she could release the lightning bolt a pillar of stone rose from the ground, trapping Azula within it: Toph had joined the battle.

Sokka ran over to Katara's body and checked for a pulse; there was none. He broke down sobbing, cradling Katara's lifeless body in his arms "No, you can't die Katara! What's Aang going to do without you;" then in a whisper "what am I going to do without you…"

Toph was already crying as she shouted at Azula "you killed Katara! You monster! I'm going to crush every bone in your body!"

This snapped Sokka out of it "No." he commanded, "Just crush her hands and feet so she can't fire bend her way out of it". The only reply was the resounding crunch as the stone contracted around her limbs. "Were not going to kill you right away" said Sokka standing up, "were going to take it nice and slow…". No Fire Nation soldiers attacked them because there were even more allied warriors surrounding the group and the battle was definitely turning in their favor now.

Suddenly Aang swooped out of the sky and landed; he was a little burnt and he was favoring his right leg but he otherwise looked pretty good. "I did it!" he exclaimed excitedly, "I defeated Ozai! I took away his bending and- what's wrong?" he asked noticing everyone's faces. Then he looked towards the center and a look of utter shock passed over his face, "No…" he whispered. He immediately sprinted over and picked up Katara's body. He just stood silently for a few seconds, then asked in a voice that shook with emotion "Azula did this?" everyone nodded.

Azula cackled, "You may have defeated my father Avatar, but you still lost the person most precious to you!" she yelled with glee. Sokka noticed that Aang's tattoos were beginning to glow.

He new exactly what was going to happen and yelled "Fall back! Run! If you want to live get back to the command tent!" then turned and ran at full tilt towards the rear of the allies lines. As he ran he glanced back and saw that most of the soldiers were sprinting the way he was, even some fire benders were running with them but no one seemed to care; he also noticed Aang rising into the air, still carrying Katara and a large sphere of elemental energy was spreading towards the fleeing troops. It caught a few stragglers and all the Fire Nation soldiers who thought that the other side was just retreating. Sokka reached the command tent and whirled around and saw the sphere retreating, leaving hundreds of dead fire nation and a few of the Earth and Water soldiers who couldn't get away in time.

Aang, still in the Avatar state, landed and placed Katara's body on the ground and walked over to Azula who he had left alive; with all the voices of the previous Avatars he screamed "You Killed her!! Now I'm going to do the same to you except much more slowly…" Azula began to scream for help but no one was near or willing enough to do anything. Aang released her from the rock pillar, picked her up by the throat and began to mutilate her. Sokka watched for the first minute or so, but turned away because it was to painful to watch what Aang was doing to her; but the sounds and Azuka's screams were enough to give him nightmares for the next month. With a last sickening crunch Azula's screams stopped. Sokka turned to look and saw Azula's corpse fall to the ground. Aang slowly came out of the Avatar state and knelt down next to Katara; the battlefield was completely silent, then everyone heard what many would call the most mournful sound they had ever heard coming from Aang.

Toph and Sokka immediately started to cry again. Zuko, who had finally found them, asked what that horrible noise was. "That" Sokka replied his voice shaking "is the sound of a boy who's won the war, but lost everything he was fighting for…" Sobbing the three began walking towards their wailing friend.

To be continued…


	2. Rain

**Sorry I forgot to put this in the first chapter: I do not own avatar, if I did I would have made the characters a little older…**

**Again please Read and Review, Criticism, is always appreciated **

I can't go back…

Chapter 2: Rain

As they got within 100 yards of Aang the mournful sobbing stopped; Aang stood up grabbed his glider, still carrying Katara, and leapt into the air and flew due South. "Damn it Aang!" Zuko yelled "Come back! Where are you going?" If the retreating figure heard any of this he didn't acknowledge it.

The three kept walking and reached the spot where Aang had stood; the ground was stained red with blood: Katara's and the blood that was seeping out of Azula's mangled corpse. That was when Hakoda showed up, his group of warriors in tow carrying a shackled and chained Ozai in between them. "We got to the palace just before Aang removed his bending" Hakoda said "as soon as we were sure he was no threat we took him prisoner! Why is everyone so-, where's Katara?" he asked noticing everyone's faces. No one said anything but just looked at their feet. Hakoda glanced from person to person his look of worry deepening with every passing second.

Finally Zuko spoke up "She didn't make it… She was killed by Azula, when Aang found out he lost control and killed everyone who couldn't get away in time then he did that to Azula" he said as he pointed, his words coming out in a rush.

Hakoda dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands; fresh tears began to run down all the friends faces. Eventually Hakoda looked up and asked "Where are they right now?"

"Aang took Katara's body and flew due south on his glider" answered Sokka. "I'm not sure where he went but he wanted to get there quick; I've never seen him go that fast before."

"I think I know where he went" Hakoda said, "The South Pole I think he means to bury her. He didn't take Appa correct?"

"No" said Toph, "Appa's still here".

"Good" said Hakoda, "You kids take Appa and get to the South Pole as fast as you can; make sure Aang doesn't do anything rash, and make sure they prepare her body and keep it somewhere safe". Sokka opened his mouth to argue but Hakoda stopped him "No son, I know what you're going to say and your friend needs you more than I do right now, now go!"

Zuko also stayed behind owing to the fact that he needed to become Fire Lord; but said that he would come for the funeral. Hakoda said that him and the other water tribesmen would only be another week here and would get there as soon as possible. So Sokka and Toph gathered some supplies for the long journey. They flew almost nonstop, stopping only twice to give Appa rest during the four day journey. There was almost no talking between the two; they were lost in their memories of their sister and best friend. Momo's best efforts to lighten the mood fell on deaf ears.

As soon as Toph and Sokka landed they asked the first person they saw if Aang had been there; they found that Aang had arrived two days before they did. He had told the village elders what had happened and the elders had immediately begun to prepare the body for a funeral. They found Aang in the hut that being used to keep her body in the meantime. It was obvious that he hadn't slept or eaten in days, and he hardly even glanced in their direction when they entered the hut. After a few minutes of silence Sokka opened his mouth to say something but Aang interrupted "Don't worry they've already taken care of all the preparations to the body; I guessed that the others from the water tribe won't be here for another week; and I'm not planning to kill myself, if that's what you were going to say."

"Wow…" Sokka said "you're good".

Aang gave a humorless laugh; "But not good enough; sure I defeated the Fire Lord, but what does it matter!?!" he said, tears streaming down his face, "Everything I did was for her; and now she's gone… and everything I've done…It just doesn't matter anymore, it's all meaningless."

"Aang…" Sokka began

"Wait," Toph interrupted, "let him finish he needs to get this out"

Aang continued: "I mean, I never even told her how I felt, the closest I came was on the deck of the submarine before I left… and now she'll never know, and I'll never know how she felt about me…my life is meaningless now"

"No it's not Aang" said Sokka "You're the Avatar the world nee-"

"No, no, no!!!" shouted Aang "Don't you see!?! I can't be the avatar anymore! I lost control, I was blinded by my grief and anger; I killed hundreds of people on that battlefield in a matter of seconds! I've never killed anything before! I even spared the Fire Lord's life for spirit's sake! And if that wasn't bad enough, you saw the… things I did to Azula… I can't go back…" Aang broke down sobbing; Toph and Sokka just held him and each other, sharing each other's grief.

Over the next few days initial preparations for Katara's funeral were made; notifications were sent out and a large space by the water's edge was cleared of snow. The Water Tribesmen arrived three days after preparations began, and the funeral was scheduled for four days after that. The entire village had a gloom hanging over it. Aang had finally accepted food and had finally fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion, albeit fitfully. The day before the funeral Aang finally left the hut and found Toph. He asked if she would help him find and transport a large rock for something he had planned.

_I don't know what's he's planning_, thought Toph, _but at least he's out of the tent._ She agreed and they set out. It took half the day to find a rock that was big enough and not buried by too much snow, and it took the rest of the day to transport it to the site were the funeral was to be held and bury it.

The next day the mourners began to arrive early; Fire Lord Zuko's ship was the first to arrive (this time it didn't crash through the village wall); next Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors arrived, Suki immediately ran to Sokka to comfort him. Even people who they didn't send messages to came, they had just heard from word of mouth: Aunt Wu, the fortune teller; some town's people from Jang Hui: the Painted Lady's village and many more from their travels. Many of Katara's friends and family had prepared eulogies and planned to speak at the funeral.

The village elders brought her body out; they had dressed it in the traditional funeral garb of the water tribe. They laid her on a large slab of ice and snow that they had prepared especially for the funeral. Hakoda was the first to speak; he tried to speak about how kind and caring Katara was, but was unable to finish and sat back down. Sokka was the next to speak, he stepped up to the podium; "As many of you already know, I am not very good at public speaking" there was scattered chuckling at the memory of his attempt to outline the battle plan to invade the Fire Nation on the day of black sun, "but I need to do this so bear with me; If there's one thing I can say about Katara is that she was the kindest and most loving person I have ever known. To our little group she was a blessing; she was our cook, our medic, our, I suppose you could say, mother figure; she was a dear friend to everyone in 'Team Avatar' and I think a little more than a friend to others. In my opinion she might have even been more influential than Aang in the downfall of Ozai; because without her, Aang would still be trapped inside an iceberg and I doubt that any one of us would be alive right now to talk about it. Katara made her mark on the world; she left it a better place than when she came into it, but in dying she made it just a little less bright. I love you Katara, I'll miss you…" and he stepped down as the crowd applauded.

The next person to speak was Fire Lord Zuko; "Like Sokka" he began "I am not very comfortable speaking in public; but I will try my best. To be completely honest I wasn't Katara's friend for very long; as many of you know I spent a good portion of the past year trying to capture her and her friends, so when I defected to their side, she was the last one to start trusting me. It was only when I when I helped her find the man who killed her mother did she believe I had sincerely joined their side. When she was confronted this man I fully expected her to kill him but she didn't; she spared his life. She was an extremely benevolent person; she couldn't even kill the person who had caused her so much grief. Over the past two months I got to know everyone in the group; I realized that Katara was the glue that held the group together; they would never have accomplished what they did without her. So in closing I would like to say that I am grateful; no, I am honored to have been able to call her my friend." He bowed and stepped down to widely scattered applause; most people still didn't trust him.

Over the next few hours many people spoke about Katara; the people listened politely but everyone was anticipating the end, when the Avatar was supposed to speak. Finally it was Aang's turn he stepped up to the podium; "One year ago I was incased in a giant block of ice somewhere out there" he said gesturing in the general direction, "When I woke up from my 100 year nap, I saw the most beautiful face I had ever seen staring down at me; it was, of course, Katara. I didn't realize it until later, but that was the moment I fell in love." At this there was some scattered whispering among the crowd; but for the most part no one who knew the group well was surprised at this revelation. "Judging by your reaction" Aang continued, his mouth turning up ever so slightly at the corners "I was none too subtle about showing it; I loved her so much…" he said tears starting to flow. "Every thing I did from that moment on was for her; and she was there for me every step of the journey; if I needed a shoulder to cry on she was there, if I needed someone to save my butt from the Fire Nation she was there. When I did something to push her away from me I felt like a hole had been punched in my heart. As I was planning out what I was going to say for this I realized that words aren't enough to express how I feel, so I thought of something else, I hope it turns out…"

He stepped down off the podium and got into an Earth bending stance; he gestured and the large rock he and Toph had placed there rose out of the snow. He stood there for a few seconds, a look of concentration on his face; then he stomped his foot and punched the face of the rock; everyone heard grinding sounds coming from the rock. With another gesture Aang lifted the outer layers of rock and revealed a perfectly detailed statue of Katara. There were gasps of astonishment and wonder from the crowd; but Aang wasn't finished yet, he took a few of the leftover pieces of rock and made them into sand, whirling the sand around into a sphere with air bending he then used his fire bending to heat the sand until it turned to glass. Then he used water bending to fill the sphere with water, and then with a little more sand and fire bending he melded the orb to the statue's hands. Aang stood back and admired his work: the final result was a statue of Katara that looked like she was bending a sphere of water between her hands.

There was silence for a few moments and Aang turned with a worried look on his face, then the crowd burst into applause and a look of subdued relief crossed his face and he plodded back to his seat next to Sokka who hugged him and thanked him for the tribute. The only thing left to do was for the village elders to light the funeral pyre, which they did. (This was tradition in the water tribes because scavengers would just dig the bodies up if they buried them.) This was also the cue for everyone but Katara's closest friends and her family to leave. They filed out leaving only Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Aang, Hakoda and Gran Gran. Hakoda and Gran Gran left after only a few minutes; the rest stayed until the fire burnt itself out, then sadly they left too.

Later Sokka came to Aang's tent and sat down "Aang, before the battle, Katara told me that if anything were to happen to her I was to give you this" he placed something in Aang's palm and left the tent obviously bothered. Aang opened his hand and saw that Sokka had given him the necklace that Katara always wore, the one she had gotten from her mother. Fresh tears began to slide down his face and he cried himself to sleep, still clutching the necklace. He slept fitfully, dreaming of all the death and destruction he had caused.

He awoke in the middle of the night knowing what he had to do; he gathered his belongings, said goodbye to Appa and went briefly to the statue of Katara. He looked up at her beautiful face and said "I doubt that you can hear me but I feel I have to try; I just want to say I love you Katara and that I wish I had had the guts to say it to you when you were alive. I just want to say goodbye and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but I can't go back… not after what I did…" he snapped open his glider and leapt into the star filled sky.

Sokka awoke the next morning to find that Aang and gone leaving only a note: _Please take are of Appa for me, and I'm sorry._ Sokka went to the statue and was puzzled to find it frozen solid. As he started to chip the ice away he couldn't figure out how it had happened. The real reason was that few minutes after Aang left, for the first time in recorded history, rain fell at the South Pole.

**Please review!**


	3. The Beginning

**Yet again I do not own Avatar if I did I wouldn't be writing this!**

**Sorry it's so long but this will be the last chapter. More on that after the story.**

Chapter 3: The Beginning

And so five years passed and the world began the long process of healing. Almost immediately after Katara's passing there had been an increase in the births of water benders at both poles; many believed that this wasn't just a coincidence but they welcomed it anyway. Sokka, now 21, had taken over as the chief of the southern Water Tribe after his father had retired. Sokka was also the ambassador of his tribe to Fire Lord Zuko's new peace council. He had married Suki two years before and Suki was expecting their first child, she had returned to Kyoshi Island to have the child but normally lived with Sokka at the South Pole.

About a week after Katara's funeral, Toph had gone home to her home town of Gaoling to reconcile with her parents; which she did to a degree, but soon set out on her own again. The last massage Sokka had received from her said that she had opened up an Earth bending school that specialized in metal bending. Zuko spent most of his time in the Fire Nation capital trying to make up for the 100 years of terror his predecessors had unleashed on the world.

But every year, on the date of Katara's death, the group would meet at the statue at the South Pole to catch up on what's going on with each other and to reminisce about the old days. They hoped that one year Aang would show up but after four years they had all but given up. Aang had not been seen or heard from since the funeral. The year following the defeat of Ozai, there had been many "sightings" of the Avatar, but upon investigation most proved to be false. Aang had left Appa and Momo behind; so Appa had become Sokka's primary mode of transportation and Momo had kind of become a pet of the water tribe.

The day before the fifth anniversary of Katara's death Sokka was flying on Appa to Zuko's bimonthly meeting between the four nation's leaders and important people. As soon as Appa landed he left him to the animal handlers who Appa promptly licked. Sokka ran into the throne room the meeting was already in progress; "Sorry I'm late," he said breathlessly, "there was a strong headwind coming from the north so we didn't get here as fast as I wanted to"

"That's perfectly alright Sokka," said Zuko, "we just got started. Continue General Tzu," he said gesturing to the man standing at the front of the table with a map of the world behind him.

"As I was saying," the general said, "Rebel uprisings have been getting worse and worse! These damn Ozai loyalists aren't just attacking military targets anymore; in the past month alone there have been 10 attacks on civilian targets in the Fire Nation, five of them have been in the capital city itself! I would like permission, Lord Zuko, to have more troops present to protect the civilians and to protect the palace.

"Out of the question" said Zuko, "If the people see an increased military presence in the city they will think that we're trying to oppress them."

"Then can you at least authorize a house to house search for these terrorists" the general countered.

"Absolutely not, these are all tactics my father would have used and I'm trying to show that I am not like him; if we start acting like we can get away with anything, the people will turn against us; there has to be another option."

"Well the only other option I can see" the General said exasperatedly "is to get the Avatar to smoke them out; but no one has seen the Avatar for five years!"

"There's got to be another way" said Zuko massaging his temples.

"I agree wit the general" Sokka said, "We need the Avatar back." At this everyone turned and stared with puzzled looks; every other time someone had suggested forming a search party to find the Avatar, Sokka had pleaded for them to leave him alone. His reasoning was that Aang had done his duty to the world; and he had suffered a lifetime's worth of emotional and psychological trauma in only one year, if anyone deserved a break it was Aang. "You're right," Sokka continued, "we do need the Avatar now, and we need to find him; but we can't use search parties."

"Then how will we find him?" asked one man.

"I'll be taking a small party to go look for him; consisting of myself and Toph; I'll need her ability to identify people by their heartbeats."

"Where will you look?" asked another man, "We don't even know where what country he's hiding in."

"Well," Sokka pondered, "I do know where he isn't: he's won't be at any of the air temples or any of the water tribe's villages, there are too many bad memories for him in those places; so I'll start from there.

"That's actually a very good idea," said Zuko, "I wish you luck my friend, you'll need it"

So Sokka bought supplies for the journey and sent a message to the South Pole letting his father, who acted as the chief when Sokka had to leave, know that he would be traveling for a while. So he took off, his first stop was Kyoshi Island to tell Suki that he would be gone for a while. When he arrived he was shocked to find the village in ruins; obviously a victim of a rebel attack. He ran to the place where the Kyoshi Warriors lived and trained, only to find it burned to the ground. As the villagers gathered around he asked, "Where is she? Where's Suki?"

"We don't know," replied one villager, "the rebels just came in and ransacked the town and took all the Kyoshi Warriors hostage to prevent us from following them. The girls put up quite a fight though; they took out a dozen of the rebels before they were captured."

"Did you see which way they went?" asked Sokka desperately.

"No they just scattered in every direction" Answered a villager.

Having no leads to go off of; Sokka left for Toph's earth bending school. Seething with anger he scanned the ground the whole way, searching for any sign of Suki or her warriors. As Sokka arrived at Toph's school he realized something was wrong; he had never had the chance to actually visit the place but he was pretty sure that it wasn't usually on fire. "Hmmm, I can't tell whether that means that Toph_ is _home or something's wrong," he joked. Appa just grunted in reply.

As Appa landed, Sokka jumped down and looked around: the village looked like it had been ransacked; which, he supposed, it had. There was evidence of earth bending everywhere; spikes of rock with fire benders still impaled on them, hastily thrown up rock shields with scorch marks on them, all the evidence of an all out battle between Toph's pupils and Fire Nation insurrectionists. He found a villager and asked what had happened; as he suspected, fire benders had come out of nowhere and attacked the town and the school. Apparently the rebels had killed five students and took the others hostage. "What about Toph?" asked Sokka "is she one of the hostages?" the villager nodded and Sokka thanked him and walked off. He sent a letter to the Fire nation palace warning that there was a good chance that Zuko was the next target; because it appeared that someone wanted to capture Team Avatar. A few days later Sokka received a reply telling him that Zuko had been captured the day after Sokka had left.

Sokka realized that he was probably next, and that it was imperative that he find Aang as soon as possible because he knew that he would never stand a chance against the rebels by himself. He came up with a plan: he wrote a note and pinned it to Appa and told him to go home to the South Pole; the note explained what he would be doing; and he couldn't exactly be traipsing all around the Earth Kingdom on a flying bison, that would get him killed. He then traded his water tribe garb for the brown and green colors of the Earth Kingdom so he could blend in better he even found a large stick that he could hide his sword in. to complete his disguise he shaved his head and bought one of the pointed straw hats that seemed to be so popular in the Earth Kingdom. He was ready to head out; his plan: to do what he did best, he was going to talk.

Over the next couple months, Sokka traveled on foot from village to village as a storyteller, telling the tales of the Avatar in order to try to draw Aang out. He traveled under a false name and always wore his hat low on his face to avoid being recognized by anyone. At the end of two months, he was ready to just give up and go home; he had traveled over almost all of the Earth Kingdom and not even gotten a hint that Aang was nearby. He always spent three days in a village; saving the best story of all for the last night: the story of the final battle with Ozai's troops. Whenever he told this story he would add false details that only Aang would know were incorrect; and looked for anyone who reacted differently than others to the story.

It was his last day in an obscure village that wasn't on any map; there were actually a large amount of these unmarked villages. After this village Sokka had vowed to start heading home and try to get help from others in his tribe to rescue his wife and friend. He was telling the story of the final battle around the village center; as he got to the part of Katara dying he changed her murderer to Ozai instead of Azula, he felt a weird sensation: like the air had gotten heavier and he saw a man get up and walk away. He tried not to let himself get hopeful but this is exactly what he had been looking for these past few months. He finished the story and asked who the man was. He found out that the man's name was "Gyatso"; when he heard that, he knew he had found him.

Sokka went to "Gyatso's" house on the edge of the village the next morning. He found him sitting at his table with his back to the door eating a breakfast of bread and vegetables. "You're Gyatso?" Sokka asked. "Yeah," replied the man, "what of it?"

"I was just wondering why you left during my story last night." replied Sokka.

"Because I don't like war stories; especially ones that aren't true" replied the man. "Whoever told you that was misinformed."

"No one told me that story, I was there" Sokka said matter-of-factly, "And so were you…Aang."

Aang whirled around to face him, "Who are you…?"

Sokka reached up and removed his hat. Aang stared at him with an uncomprehending expression on his face. Then realization dawned; "Oh my god… Sokka?"

"In the tired, weather beaten and flat footed flesh." Sokka had noticed Aang had grown a lot in the five years he'd been missing; and he had been keeping in shape: he was also well muscled; he had also grown out his hair to about his eyebrows hiding the arrow tattoo on his head.

"How did you find me? Wait, let's talk outside, I hate being cramped up indoors." requested Aang. So they walked along a trail that led into the woods.

"I've been all over the Earth kingdom searching for you."

"Why?"

"Because I need your help; Fire Nation Insurrectionists have taken all of our friends from the team hostage and I can't fight them alone."

"Sorry, I can't help you. And I already told you why five years ago."

"But they want you to come back," pleaded Sokka, "they nag me every chance they get to go find you!"

"Sorry Sokka, you already have my answer. And if this is all you came to say I think it's time for you to go." said Aang, starting to walk away.

"I didn't want to play this card" Sokka said reluctantly "but I don't think Katara would have wanted you to hide from the world." Aang whirled around, fire in his eyes, but quickly got control of himself.

"You have no idea how many time I've thought about that; and you know what I realized?" said Aang "I realized that it doesn't matter anymore because she's dead and nothing is going to change that!" Aang yelled "and I'm never going to see her again…"

Sokka realized that this was hopeless and was just about to leave when he felt a drop of water hit his face. "What the hell? He said looking up at the clouds "it was just sunny a few minutes ago".

"Don't worry about that" said Aang as it started to rain, "that happens all the time to me, especially when I get upset. I think it's just my Avatar powers acting up."

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked, "This doesn't fee like normal rain, it feels…so warm, I feel content" Sokka said a smile passing over his face. Aang stepped out of the tree line and into the rain.

You know" Aang said, "this is going to sound crazy but this rain feels familiar." Suddenly it began to pour, "Aang squinted up the path, "is it just me or does it look like someone is coming up the path?"

"I see it too" answered Sokka. As the figure approached and floated there in front of them; both Aang and Sokka's jaws dropped: standing there in front of them was Katara.

She wore a long bluish dress that left her shoulders bare and seemed to change to different shades of blue every time she moved; it seemed to be made from water. "Hello Aang, Hello Sokka" said Katara Aang noticed that her voice sounded beautiful; like the sound of a stream running over rocks.

Aang swallowed, "Katara?" the figure nodded, smiling at him, "But, you died!"

"I did", replied the gently shimmering figure, "but having having the Moon Spirit as your friend has its advantages; I'm the spirit of water now."

"You're beautiful" said Aang instantly blushing.

"Thank you" said Katara drawing closer, "but we have more important things to talk about; Sokka's right, the world needs the Avatar again, you have to step up. For the past five years, every time you beat yourself up for running away I tried to let you know that I was still here for you the only way I knew how: I made it rain."

"Oh…" said Aang, "why didn't you just appear before me like right now?"

"Because right now, I'm only here with the help of the other spirits. I don't have enough strength to manifest on my own. But that doesn't matter, the world needs you Aang, the world needs the Avatar"

"But I need you!" Aang said.

She drew even closer, "there's hardly a place you can go where there isn't water of some kind; I'll always be with you." She kissed him; it was a long kiss and they both tried to make the most of it, trying to pack all the love and happiness they would have shard together if things had been different. When they finally broke apart, Aang had a look of joy and contentment on his face. Katara turned to Sokka and hugged him "Thank you for coming to find him" she said "he needs his friends more than ever"

"I'll miss you" Sokka said and hugged her again.

As she pulled back, she started to fade out "My time here is at an end" she said "I probably won't be able to appear like this again but I will be there watching." She was almost gone.

"Wait!" Aang cried "I love you!" Katara kissed him again,

"I know" she said and faded out, taking the rain with her.

"Wow," Sokka said after a long silence, "I wasn't expecting that!"

"Me either" said Aang. They stood there for a few minutes. Aang was the first to speak "Give me 15 minutes and I'll be ready to kick some rebels into next week!" Said Aang, already in a better mood.

"Ok" Sokka said and sat back against a tree. He stared at the drops of water still clinging to the branches and leaves and was happy that his sister had gotten such an appropriate job in the afterlife.

Suddenly something threw itself out of the window of Aang's hut and swooped into the sky. It was Aang on his glider. "Woohoo!" he yelled "I haven't done this in years!"

All the commotion attracted some youngsters from the village; one asked Sokka "Wow! What is that?"

"That," Sokka answered, "Is a legend. Hey kids, go back to the village and tell them what you saw, tell them The Avatar came back.

**Well that's it for this story! I was planning on taking this one further but it wouldn't have fit the genre. So I'm working a sequel instead!**

**As usual read and review and keep an eye out for the sequel!**


	4. The End: Aang's POV

**I just realized that I published the original in only four days so I decided to add a few more chapters.**

**These will line up with the original chapters, but will be told from Aang's POV.**

**Enjoy! And please review!**

I Can't Go Back…

The End: Aang's POV

I saw the fear in Ozai's eyes as I stole his ability to bend from him; he crumpled to the floor clearly defeated. I allowed myself a moment of rest, then I grabbed my glider and leapt into the air and flew out of the palace; I knew my friends would need all the help they could get.

As I flew, I saw Chief Hakoda and a group of warriors enter the palace; I know they would have no problem taking Ozai prisoner.

I reached the battlefield and saw that the battle was definitely turning in our favor. I spotted my friends surrounded by a large circle of allied troops who were holding the Fire Nation forces at bay.

I dropped down into the ring too excited to notice any details.

"I did it!" I practically shouted, "I defeated Ozai! I took away his bending and-" I stopped, noticing my friends grief stricken faces, "What's wrong?"

No one answered. I looked over to where Sokka was kneeling on the ground; in that instant time seemed to stop for me: in his arms was the body of the girl I loved. Katara had been killed.

"No…" I heard myself whisper. I was suddenly holding her in my arms, having no memory of having run to where Sokka was.

Suddenly time reverted back to normal; I took a look around and saw my friends, minus Zuko, all with tears streaming down their faces; I saw the ring of allied troops still keeping the Fire Nation back; and last I saw Azula trapped in a pillar of rock, blood seeping from where her hands and feet were.

"Azula did this?" I asked, my voice cracking with pain and anger. Everyone nodded.

"You may have defeated my father Avatar, but you still lost the person most precious to you!" Azula mocked, laughing gleefully at my suffering.

That drove me over the edge; I felt myself enter the Avatar State, I unintentionally channeled all my pain and anger into it. I vaguely remember rising into the air, still holding Katara, but I don't remember much after that. My next clear memory was being on the ground again; I saw Azula and my only thought was of vengeance.

Still in the Avatar State, I set Katara down and released Azula from her rock prison. Since her feet were broken she crumpled to the ground. I must have looked pretty terrifying because she was screaming for help. I picked her up by her throat and began to hit her repeatedly; I released all the pent up anger and rage I hadn't released initially. I won't even mention the other things I did to her because it's just too horrible. After my rage subsided I ended her life with a flick of my wrist, still wrapped around her neck.

I came out of the Avatar State and dropped her mutilated corpse to the ground; I went and knelt next to Katara's body.

Seeing her sightless eyes staring up at the sky finally broke me: I started sobbing and I couldn't stop; I wailed my grief and anguish to the heavens.

Everything I had done on my journey had all been for her; everything had led up to this day. After I defeated the Firelord I was going to tell her how I felt. But now that opportunity is gone. Forever.

... I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye…

**Sorry if I cause anyone to break out in tears! **

**I hate to say it but the next chapter will be even more heart rending.**

**Anyway, no matter what you thought of the story, please leave a review! I love to hear from my readers!**

**Till next time! **


	5. Rain: Aang's POV

This one should be a bit longer.

**As always please leave a review!**

Eventually I calmed down enough to see what surrounded me. My red puffy eyes scanned the area around me; I saw death and destruction everywhere. Surrounding me were hundreds of dead Fire Nation troops; I realized I must have killed them in anger while in the Avatar State.

I couldn't seem to muster any reaction to what I was seeing; the only thing I felt was deep grief for the girl laying at my feet.

I looked down again and saw Katara just lying there; I knew I had to do something with her but I was at a loss for where to take her.

I looked at her small body; even in death she still managed to look beautiful. As I saw her simple blue clothing, an idea occurred to me: I needed to take her to the South Pole.

I quickly fashioned a makeshift harness out of cloth and attached Katara to my chest; then I grabbed my glider and took off due south.

* * *

The journey took two days. I manipulated the air currents so I was able to travel faster than I ever had before.

As I traveled, my thoughts turned to her. I remembered all the wonderful times we had together.

The day I first met her, the time she first hugged me as we were leaving Kyoshi Island, the Cave of Two Lovers where we almost had our first kiss, the dance party we had and so many more.

The wind was stinging my face so much that I couldn't even tell whether I was crying or my eyes were just watering.

* * *

I landed in the outskirts of the new and improved South Pole village. I didn't notice at the time but the Southern Tribe had reconstructed the village to twice its size since the last time I'd been there.

I plodded up to the village gate, cradling Katara's body in my arms. The gates swung open and I stepped through. I was greeted at first by cheers, and then faces fell as they saw who I was carrying.

I kept walking until I found Kanna and Pakku. She ran up and put a gloved hand aside Katara's face.

"I was afraid this would happen," she said a tear trickling down her wrinkled cheek, "I'm afraid we have to take her from you," she said sadly as Pakku took her body from my grasp, "There are preparations that need to be made before the funeral."

"You can rest in Katara's hut if you wish; you must be tired from your journey." said Pakku.

I nodded numbly as they pointed me in the right direction.

* * *

I lay down on the small bed and tried to sleep; but it just wouldn't come even though I was exhausted. Every time I tried to relax my thoughts kept turning back to her and I would start crying again.

After a while I gave up and went down to the waterfront to practice my waterbending, hoping it would take my mind off of her. It had the opposite effect, I just remembered all the countless hours I spent training with her.

So I walked back through the village not even seeing my surroundings; people murmured words of sympathy to me but I didn't hear them.

I walked until I reached the spot where we had gone penguin sledding the day I first met her. I really didn't even feel sad anymore, I just felt completely numb. It felt like a hole had been punched right through my heart. I couldn't even cry anymore the tears just wouldn't come.

* * *

I slowly plodded my way to the village. I went back to Katara's hut and lay down trying to sleep and miserably failing. Later that night they brought her body back and placed it on the bed. They had dressed her in ornate, ceremonial Water Tribe furs and they had painted her face with ceremonial markings.

Gran Gran stood next to me and looked at Katara's body.

"I was afraid this would happen," she said, "I was afraid that one or both of my grand children wouldn't make it back from this."

I said nothing and just continued staring at Katara's body.

"Aang," she said addressing me directly, "I know how much this must hurt you,"

I turned to look at her.

"You must have loved her very much." She said sadly.

Tears began to well up in my eyes and she wrapped me in a hug as if I was her grandson. After a while she left me alone in the tent. I spent the next day reminiscing and thinking about what I could have done differently to prevent this tragedy.

* * *

The next day, Toph and Sokka, having just arrived, entered the hut. I barely spared them a glance before looking back at Katara. I knew they would have a lot to say and I really wasn't in the mood for it; and I pretty much knew what they were going to say.

"Don't worry," I said not even turning to look, "they've already taken care of all the preparations to the body; I guessed that the others from the water tribe won't be here for another week; and I'm not planning to kill myself, if that's what you were going to say."

"Wow," Sokka said, "You're good."

All my pent up frustration began to bubble to the surface.

I laughed humorlessly, "But I wasn't good enough; Yea hi defeated the Firelord but what does it matter!" I said yelling now, as tears began running down my cheeks.

"Everything I did was for her! And now she's gone…Everything I've accomplished just doesn't matter anymore. It's all meaningless…"

"Aang…" Sokka began to say

"Wait," Toph interrupted, "Let him finish; he needs this."

"I never even told her how I felt about her," I continued, "I had so many chances to tell her and I blew all of them! And now she'll never know…and I'll never know how she felt about me… My life in meaningless now…"

"No it's not!" countered Sokka, "You're the Avatar, The world nee-"

"No, no, no!" I screamed, frustrated that he couldn't see it the way I did, "Don't you see! I can't be the avatar anymore! I lost control, I was blinded by my grief and anger; I killed hundreds of people on that battlefield in a matter of seconds!" this was the first time I'd really let myself think about what I'd done on the battle field.

"I've never killed anything before! I even spared the Fire Lord's life for spirit's sake! And if that wasn't bad enough, you saw the… things I did to Azula… I can't go back…" I said more quietly.

The other two wrapped me in a big hug and we just sat there sharing each other's grief.

* * *

Over the next week, as preparations for the funeral were made, I remained in the hut by her side. I finally ate when they brought me food and managed to fall asleep out of pure exhaustion; but I had nightmares so I didn't sleep for long.

Two days before the funeral I started thinking about what I wanted to say for a eulogy. After a day of thought, I found that words alone wouldn't be enough express how much I'd miss her; so I came up with a plan.

The next day I went and found Toph.

"Toph…I need your help with something…" I said quietly, my voice hoarse from al the crying I'd been doing.

"Sure Twink- er, Aang," she said, "What do you need?"

"I need to find a large rock." I answered.

"Why?" she asked, curious.

"You'll see tomorrow" I answered, not feeling like explaining it.

"Ok," she said shrugging.

We ventured onto the frozen tundra; it took all day to find and transport a suitable rock. I buried it in the snow where the funeral was to take place.

I spent almost all night planning how I was going to achieve my feat; then I slept fitfully.

* * *

The next day was a blur of people offering me their condolences as they arrived. I saw many familiar faces from my journey.

Many people had prepared eulogies for the funeral; I was asked to speak last.

When the funeral began the first speaker was Hakoda, but he broke down halfway through and sat back down.

Sokka was up next and did a pretty good job, given his problems with public speaking.

Zuko went after that; his was a little disorganized, but he spoke anyway even though he had only been with us for a few months.

Many other people spoke that day, but before I knew it, it was my turn.

I stepped up to the podium and composed myself.

"One year ago I was incased in a giant block of ice somewhere out there" I said gesturing in the general direction of where I was discovered,

"When I woke up from my 100 year nap, I saw the most beautiful face I had ever seen staring down at me; it was, of course, Katara. I didn't realize it until later, but that was the moment I fell in love."

I heard some whispering from the crowd as I said this; but I could see that not many of them were surprised by this. "Judging by your reaction" I continued, allowing myself a tiny smile, "I was none too subtle about showing it; I loved her so much…" I said my tears beginning to flow.

"Every thing I did from that moment on was for her; and she was there for me every step of the journey; if I needed a shoulder to cry on she was there, if I needed someone to save my butt from the Fire Nation she was there. When I did something to push her away from me I felt like a hole had been punched in my heart. As I was planning out what I was going to say for this I realized that words aren't enough to express how I feel, so I thought of something else, I hope it turns out…"

I stepped down from the podium and raised the rock from the ground with a gesture. I pictured exactly what I wanted the in my head; and when I was ready I slammed both of my fists into the surface of the stone, shaping the insides with earthbending.

With another gesture I removed the outer layers of rock, revealing a perfectly detailed statue of Katara. Then I broke some of the unused pieces into sand and whirled it into a hollow sphere with airbending; then I heated it with fire bending until it had turned to glass. I then grabbed water from the ocean and filled the sphere with it. Last, I melded the orb to the statue's hands.

I stepped back and admired my work; it was a perfectly detailed statue of Katara bending a sphere of water between her hands. I heard the silence behind me and I turned toward the crowd, hoping they approved.

I was relieved when they burst into applause; I was exhausted from my effort so I plodded back to my seat next to Sokka, who surprised me by wrapping me in a hug and thanking me for what I did.

* * *

The village elders came forward and preformed a short ritual; then one approached and lit the funeral pyre. I had been told that this was a Water tribe tradition, because ice scavengers tended to dig up and make off with the bodies if they were buried. This was also the cue for all but Katara's closest friends and family to leave. This just left Sokka, Toph, Suki, Zuko, Hakoda, Gran gran and I; Hakoda and Gran Gran left after a few minutes.

The rest of us stayed and watched the fire consume our friend's remains. As the sun set on the distant horizon, the fire burnt itself out, and Katara's ashes blew out to sea, carried by the artic winds.

We all retired to our separate dwellings. A little later Sokka dropped by Katara's hut, where I was staying, "Um, before the battle began," Sokka said looking at his feet, "Katara made me promise that if anything happened to her that I would give you this." He placed something in my palm and closed my fingers over it, then left.

Opening my hand I saw that he had given me the necklace that Katara had always worn. I began to cry Again and ended up crying myself to sleep, the necklace clutched against my chest.

My dreams were especially vivid that night: I dreamed of the battle field, all the soldiers I had killed were standing around me glaring and pointing. They accused me of being a monster, of being inhuman.

I woke screaming and drenched in sweat. I knew what I had to do; I gathered my things and said goodbye to Appa. This was a journey I had to take alone.

I went to the statue of Katara. I looked up at her beautiful face, "I doubt that you can hear me," I said "but I felt I had to try. I just wanted to say that I love you Katara and that I wish I had had the guts to say it to you when you were alive." I looked at the ground and pulled the necklace out of my pocket, "I can't keep this," I said, "This always belonged to you." I jumped up and fastened it around the statues neck. "I just want to say goodbye and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but I can't go back… not after what I did…" I took one last look at her face knowing I would never see it again.

Then I snapped open my glider and flew off into the cold artic night.


	6. The Beginning: Aang's POV

**First of all I would like to thank Ken () for reviewing all my stories! Thanks dude! Extremely flattering!**

**Anyhoo this will probably be the last chapter in the story. I just wanted to publish this story to commemorate my first six months in fan fiction! **

**Thanks to all who reviewed! **

**I'll be getting back to "Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Steel" after this!**

I flew and I flew; for days on end I flew. I eventually stopped in an unpopulated area of the Earth Kingdom in the mesa area near the Great Divide.

I tried not to think about all the terrible things I had done; the things I had seen; the people I lost. I stayed in the Mesa land for several months; I knew they would be looking for me so I let my hair grow out so I partially hid my tattoo; I acquired a headband to hide the remainder of it.

My first year in my self-imposed exile was difficult; I mostly wandered from town to town renting a room where I could and raising money by doing odd jobs.

The second year was much like the first, except I stayed longer in each town I visited. I adopted the name Gyatso in order to conceal my identity.

The third year, the year I turned sixteen, I settled down in a small unmarked village in a small corner of the Earth Kingdom. I claimed I was a war orphan and needed a home; the villagers were more than happy to assist me in building a house of my own. So I settled down and became a member of the community.

During my years in exile, I would often ask myself why I had run away and if Katara would have wanted me to. I didn't have an answer for either one.

It seemed to rain an awful lot around me, especially when I was I was feeling really depressed; I figured it was just my Avatar powers reacting to my mood.

I almost never bended anymore, only when I absolutely had to, and even then only when I was by myself.

When I went into town for supplies or when there was a village meeting, I often caught some of the girls in the village staring at me, but I never tried to strike up any kind of relationship with them; it's not that they weren't attractive, it was just that I wasn't ready to move on.

I heard a few tales of the outside world from visitors that passed through; I heard that Sokka had become Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and that the Fire Nation was donating large sums of money to the other nations to help them rebuild from 100 years of war.

Two more years passed and I remained in the small village. I had become rather complacent; no one had even made mention of "Avatar Aang" in over a year.

One day a traveling story teller came to town for three days. I went to listen, story tellers were always amusing. The man wore a hat low over his face hiding most of it from view.

The first night, to my surprise, he told the story of the Siege of the North; on the second night he told about the battle for Ba Sing Se. He knew so much about the battles, I figured he had talked to some veterans of them. The odd thing was that he got several crucial facts wrong each story.

I knew what tale he was going to tell the final night, but I went to see it anyway. I was right; he told the tale of our final battle with Ozai. I listened, long suppressed memories being dragged to the surface.

When he got to the part where Katara died, he said that her killer was Ozai! I felt extreme anger and I almost went into the Avatar state but I managed to suppress it; then I got up and left, I wasn't going to listen to this crackpot. I went home and slept fitfully.

I was eating my usual breakfast of bread and fruit when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said.

The door opened, "You're Gyatso?" asked a voice I instantly recognized as that of the storyteller's.

"Yeah, what of it?" I answered rather angrily, without turning around.

"I was just wondering why you walked -out during my story last night."

"I don't like war stories," I said, "especially ones that aren't true."

"How would you know that it wasn't true?" asked the man.

"Because I knew several people who were at that battle; whoever told you that was misinformed." I replied.

"No one told me that story," the man said with a trace of smugness, "I was there and so were you…Aang."

Shocked, I whirled around, "Who are you?"

The man removed his hat; he was tall, well built, and mostly bald but I didn't recognize him. I took a closer look at his face and I suddenly saw a few old battle scars that I recognized,

"Oh my god, Sokka?" I asked disbelievingly.

"In the tired, weather-beaten and flat-footed flesh." He said wearily.

"But how did you find me?" I asked.

"I've been all over the Earth Kingdom looking for you." Sokka said.

"Well whatever it is you have to say must be important," I said heading towards the door, "Let's talk outside."

We walked down the path right next to my house, trees on either side of us.

"I need your help," Sokka said seriously, "Fire Nation rebels have kidnapped everyone from 'Team Avatar' but us two; they even got Suki and My unborn child!"

"Um, well congrats on the child," I said rubbing the back of my head, at a loss for what to say, "But I can't help you, I said that I couldn't go back five years ago and my answer still hasn't changed." I paused and looked at my feet, "People will still think I'm a monster if I go back."

"No they won't!" exclaimed Sokka, "Everyone's always pestering me to try and find you. Besides, I can't take on a band o rebels by myself."

"I'm sorry Sokka," I said firmly, "but you already have my answer; if this is all you came to talk about I think it's time for you to leave." I started to walk away into the tree line.

"I didn't want to play this card," Sokka welled at me as I walked away, "But what would Katara think of you now? You're running away from your responsibilities like a coward!"

I felt anger rise in me and I whirled around glaring at him, but I quickly got my emotions under control, "You have no idea how many times I would wonder about that," I replied calmly, "And you know what? I realized that it really doesn't matter, because she's dead! And I'm never going to see her again…" I said in a quieter voice.

I saw a look of resignation pass over Sokka's face; then he looked up with a quizzical expression on his face, "What the hell?" he muttered as it started to drizzle on him, "it was clear just a second ago…"

"That happens a lot around me," I said, "I think it's just my Avatar powers reacting to my mood."

"Are you sure that's it?" asked Sokka, "This doesn't feel like normal rain."

I stepped out of the tree line and into the rain; he was right, the rain did feel unusual. "This is going to sound crazy," I said, "but this rain feels…familiar." Just then it began to pour, I looked up and saw what appeared to be a figure descending from the clouds. "Please tell me you're seeing that too…" I said to Sokka without looking away from the figure.

"Oh good," he replied, "I'm not crazy then."

When the figure reached Sokka and me it hovered in the air in front of us.

I was absolutely stunned. What floated in the air before us appeared to be Katara!

She wore a long, flowing blue dress that seemed to ripple and sway all by itself; as it moved it changed to different shades of blue, it appeared to be made of water. Her bare shoulders glistened as if she had just taken a bath, and her hair seemed to flow around her as if she was suspended in water. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Hello Aang, hello Sokka." She said, her voice sounding rather unearthly but comforting at the same time; I thought it sounded like water lapping against rocks.

"K-Katara!" I finally managed to choke out. She nodded smiling at me, "but-but you died!"

"I did," she said smiling, "but having the moon spirit as your friend has its advantages; after I died I became the spirit of water!"

"Y- You're beautiful…" I managed to stammer out.

"Thank you," she said drawing closer making me blush a little, "but there's something I need to talk to you about," she said seriously, "Sokka is right, the world needs the Avatar again Aang."

My face drooped remembering the day I had last used my Avatar powers, the day where everything went wrong.

"Aang…" she said soothingly, putting her hands on my cheeks, "Every time you beat yourself up for what you did that day I tried to let you know I was there: I made it rain. I tried to make you feel better but you never realized it was me."

"Oh," I replied, her story explained a lot, "but why didn't you appear before me like you are now?"

She smiled sadly, "I am only here with the help of the other spirits, I'm not yet strong enough to manifest on my own. The spirits sent me here to tell you that the world needs you again."

"But I need you!" I pleaded desperately.

She floated closer until our faces almost touched, "Wherever there is water I am there also; there is not a place in the world where there is not water of some type, I will always be with you.

She leaned forward and kissed me, her soft cool lips pressing against mine; we broke apart after what seemed like hours and mere seconds at the same time. I felt better than I had in a long time.

She said a few words to Sokka that I didn't catch; I was still a little stunned by the whole thing. She turned to me again, "My time here is almost at an end," she said starting to slowly fade out, "I probably won't be able to appear like this again, but I will be watching."

I knew that I had wanted to say something to Katara, but I couldn't remember what it was. Suddenly it hit me, "Wait!" I shouted running forward, "I love you!" I cried at her fading form.

She drew closer and kissed me again, after a long time we parted and she looked deep into my eyes with her brilliant cerulean eyes, "I know, I always knew; I love you too." And with that she faded out, taking the rain with her and leaving a brilliant rainbow in her wake.

After a few moments of stunned silence, Sokka broke the quiet, "Well…I wasn't expecting that…" he said still wide eyed.

"Me either," I replied. We just stood there for a few minutes, digesting what had happened. During that time I came to a decision, "give me fifteen minutes," I said, "then I'll be ready to kick some rebels into next week!"

I ran into my hut and retrieved my glider from its hiding spot. I jumped out the window, soaring into the air. I flew ecstatic loops in the air, I felt better than I had in five years.

I was ready.

I was back.


End file.
